The pebble. Some may say it is the most worthless item in the game. Regardless, I think it's important to understand the pebble in its entirety.
First of all, where can you get your hands on one of these beauties? Well, they are listed on the AH under weapon> ammo/misc. You could always buy yourself a stack of 12 pebbles, but all of us frugal ffxi players know the AH is no place to find items for the hardcore player. We go out and get them!
So, where to look? (mining)
First, you can mine them. The best part about hanging out in a mine for a true-hardcore pebble fanatic is you can often get deals from miners who see pebbles as mearly "taking up space." How foolish of them! I recommend a shout with something along the lines of:
"(Pebble)(Do you have it?)(Can I have it?)(Lower the price?)"
You can also mine them yourself. To mine, make sure you have a pickaxe. Then, make a macro that says "/item "Pickaxe" <t>". Unfortunately, to get maximum pebbles, you will need to invest in mining gear, which reduces the chance of breaking pickaxes, and of course you will need to buy the pickaxes themselves. I recommend lvling a craft to a very high lvl (90+) to fund your pebble-hunting.
I don't want to mine
You lazy bastard! Well, barring mining, you can always fight for your pebbles.
They are dropped off of Bullbeggars (Level: 78 - 80) (Den of Rancor), Coastal Opo-opos (Level: 36 - 39) (Bibiki Bay - Purgonorgo Isle), Mischievous Micholas (Level: 55) (Yuhtunga Jungle), Old Opo-opo (Level: 61 - 65) (Ifrit's Cauldron), Temple Opo-opos (Level: 51 - 54) (Temple of Uggalepih) and Young Opo-opos (Level: 34 - 44) (Yhoator Jungle, Yuhtunga Jungle).
So, barring Bullbeggers, you will be doing alot of monkey-fighting to get your hands on some pebbles. Most pebble-fanatics really like fighting for their pebbles, because it gives them a real rush!
Besides mining and fighting, you can also synth you're own pebbles. All you need is Bonecraft lvled to at least 18, using a wind crystal and a shall shell. EASY!
Another way to get pebbles is to steal them from worms. Although a true pebble-enthusiast may consider this less honorable or exciting then killing lvl 34-80 monsters, it is still a viable way to obtain pebbles, and if you're like me, you can never have enough!
Still another way to obtain pebbles is by chocobo digging. You can dig these up in many different areas, and best of all, you can do this with lvl1 choco-digging skill!
I found a flint stone. Is that a pebble?
Lol, no. Flint stones are not pebbles (although, oddly, they are used to make "pebble soup"). Flint stones are pretty much worthless, although there are two repeatable quests which grant 100 gil each for 4 flint stones, which you can in turn use to buy more pickaxes.
Ok, I have my pebble, now what
Well, you can trade them with friends. Do this by selecting your friend and then choosing the "trade" option. Put in a pebble, and they can put in their pebble, and then you both click ok. This is really fun!
I don't like trading, what else can I do with a pebble?
Well, some jobs are lucky enough to actually use pebbles in combat (or unlucky- Do you really want to be literally THROWING THESE BEAUTIES AWAY?). These jobs are Bard, Beastmaster, Black Mage, Dark Knight, Dragoon, Monk, Ninja, Ranger, Summoner, Thief, Warrior, White Mage.
Pebbles have a base damage of 5 and a delay of 276. Sure, it's not spectacular, but you can theoritically kill a lvl 75 monster only using pebbles, if you had a couple days to play, a group to heal you, are playing a tanking job, and have someone bring you extra stacks of pebbles. NOT BAD FOR A WEAPON YOU CAN EQUIP AT LVL 1!!!! (If you plan to do this, I recommend starting with at least 30 stacks of 12 pebbles. Make sure to have a friend use all 60 of his slots for pebbles, and, when he's trading them to you, have another friend ready with another 60 stacks. In fact, to be on the safe side, you may want to have at least 300 friends all carrying 60 stacks of pebbles) . This method of killing a monster with pebbles is known as the "trade and throw" method.
amendment #1: Pebble controversy
Some of my friends have been saying that pebbles are useful for pulling when they can't afford a better ranged weapon or can't equip one, and also for skilling up throwing from level 1. Is this true?
Your friends are right in that pebbles can be used to pull and also for skilling up throwing (what CAN'T they do?!) But really, think about it. Do you really want to be using pebbles for PULLING or SKILLING-UP?
One of the best things about the pebble is it's versitility. Personally, I enjoy trading pebbles too much to waste them on pulling or skilling up.
Wow, pebbles are AWESOME!
You're right, pebbles are awesome. But just because you have a pebble in your inventory, it doesn't give you the right to be verbally abusive to other players.
Remember the pebble-fanatic's code of honor:
Play smart. Play nice. Play with pebbles.
First of all, where can you get your hands on one of these beauties? Well, they are listed on the AH under weapon> ammo/misc. You could always buy yourself a stack of 12 pebbles, but all of us frugal ffxi players know the AH is no place to find items for the hardcore player. We go out and get them!
So, where to look? (mining)
First, you can mine them. The best part about hanging out in a mine for a true-hardcore pebble fanatic is you can often get deals from miners who see pebbles as mearly "taking up space." How foolish of them! I recommend a shout with something along the lines of:
"(Pebble)(Do you have it?)(Can I have it?)(Lower the price?)"
You can also mine them yourself. To mine, make sure you have a pickaxe. Then, make a macro that says "/item "Pickaxe" <t>". Unfortunately, to get maximum pebbles, you will need to invest in mining gear, which reduces the chance of breaking pickaxes, and of course you will need to buy the pickaxes themselves. I recommend lvling a craft to a very high lvl (90+) to fund your pebble-hunting.
I don't want to mine
You lazy bastard! Well, barring mining, you can always fight for your pebbles.
They are dropped off of Bullbeggars (Level: 78 - 80) (Den of Rancor), Coastal Opo-opos (Level: 36 - 39) (Bibiki Bay - Purgonorgo Isle), Mischievous Micholas (Level: 55) (Yuhtunga Jungle), Old Opo-opo (Level: 61 - 65) (Ifrit's Cauldron), Temple Opo-opos (Level: 51 - 54) (Temple of Uggalepih) and Young Opo-opos (Level: 34 - 44) (Yhoator Jungle, Yuhtunga Jungle).
So, barring Bullbeggers, you will be doing alot of monkey-fighting to get your hands on some pebbles. Most pebble-fanatics really like fighting for their pebbles, because it gives them a real rush!
Besides mining and fighting, you can also synth you're own pebbles. All you need is Bonecraft lvled to at least 18, using a wind crystal and a shall shell. EASY!
Another way to get pebbles is to steal them from worms. Although a true pebble-enthusiast may consider this less honorable or exciting then killing lvl 34-80 monsters, it is still a viable way to obtain pebbles, and if you're like me, you can never have enough!
Still another way to obtain pebbles is by chocobo digging. You can dig these up in many different areas, and best of all, you can do this with lvl1 choco-digging skill!
I found a flint stone. Is that a pebble?
Lol, no. Flint stones are not pebbles (although, oddly, they are used to make "pebble soup"). Flint stones are pretty much worthless, although there are two repeatable quests which grant 100 gil each for 4 flint stones, which you can in turn use to buy more pickaxes.
Ok, I have my pebble, now what
Well, you can trade them with friends. Do this by selecting your friend and then choosing the "trade" option. Put in a pebble, and they can put in their pebble, and then you both click ok. This is really fun!
I don't like trading, what else can I do with a pebble?
Well, some jobs are lucky enough to actually use pebbles in combat (or unlucky- Do you really want to be literally THROWING THESE BEAUTIES AWAY?). These jobs are Bard, Beastmaster, Black Mage, Dark Knight, Dragoon, Monk, Ninja, Ranger, Summoner, Thief, Warrior, White Mage.
Pebbles have a base damage of 5 and a delay of 276. Sure, it's not spectacular, but you can theoritically kill a lvl 75 monster only using pebbles, if you had a couple days to play, a group to heal you, are playing a tanking job, and have someone bring you extra stacks of pebbles. NOT BAD FOR A WEAPON YOU CAN EQUIP AT LVL 1!!!! (If you plan to do this, I recommend starting with at least 30 stacks of 12 pebbles. Make sure to have a friend use all 60 of his slots for pebbles, and, when he's trading them to you, have another friend ready with another 60 stacks. In fact, to be on the safe side, you may want to have at least 300 friends all carrying 60 stacks of pebbles) . This method of killing a monster with pebbles is known as the "trade and throw" method.
amendment #1: Pebble controversy
Some of my friends have been saying that pebbles are useful for pulling when they can't afford a better ranged weapon or can't equip one, and also for skilling up throwing from level 1. Is this true?
Your friends are right in that pebbles can be used to pull and also for skilling up throwing (what CAN'T they do?!) But really, think about it. Do you really want to be using pebbles for PULLING or SKILLING-UP?
One of the best things about the pebble is it's versitility. Personally, I enjoy trading pebbles too much to waste them on pulling or skilling up.
Wow, pebbles are AWESOME!
You're right, pebbles are awesome. But just because you have a pebble in your inventory, it doesn't give you the right to be verbally abusive to other players.
Remember the pebble-fanatic's code of honor:
Play smart. Play nice. Play with pebbles.
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